The effects of an empowering self-management model on sense of coherence and self-efficacy among adolescent girls with internet addiction in Bushehr, Iran: a randomized controlled trial

Despite the positive applications of the internet, excessive use and its associated harmful consequences, particularly internet addiction among adolescents, have attracted significant attention. The present study aimed to assess the effect of an empowering self-management model on the sense of coherence and self-efficacy among adolescent girls with internet addiction in Bushehr (Iran),2022. This clinical trial was conducted on 80 adolescent girls with internet addiction in the first grade of secondary school in Bushehr. In a two-stage cluster sampling design, schools were randomly selected and assigned to either the intervention or control group. Participants voluntarily completed Young’s(1998) internet addiction test and were included in the study if they scored 46 or higher. Based on an empowering self-management model, the intervention group participated in a five-stage plan: (1) self-awareness of changes and understanding their personal level of performance and expectations; (2) optimal goal setting; (3) planning; (4) adjusting physical, psychological, and social structures; and (5) evaluation. Data collection instruments comprised the Antonovsky’s sense of coherence Questionnaire (SOC-13) and the Sherer’s general self-efficacy scale (GSES), administered at baseline and post-intervention to assess changes in sense of coherence and self-efficacy. Data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 at the significance level of 0.05. The two groups showed no significant differences in most demographic variables, except for age and having a personal room (p < 0.05). After adjusting for age and access to a personal room, a repeated-measures analysis of covariance(ANCOVA) revealed that the intervention group experienced a significantly greater improvement in sense of coherence than the control group (adjusted mean change:25.57 ± 1.1 vs. -2.67 ± 1.1; p < 0.001; partial eta squared [η²] = 0.799). Similarly, self-efficacy increased significantly more in the intervention group than in the control group (adjusted mean change:17.05 ± 0.76 vs. -2.77 ± 0.76; p < 0.001; η² = 0.807). After the intervention, severe internet addiction in the intervention group dropped to zero, with 10% of participants classified as mild, while no change was observed in the control group (p = 0.03). Accordingly, the mean change in the internet addiction score after the intervention was − 12.85 ± 0.79 in the intervention group and + 1.70 ± 0.28 in the control group (p < 0.001). The self-management empowerment model significantly improved the sense of coherence and self-efficacy among adolescent girls with internet addiction. However, given the several potential biases, short follow-up period and the homogeneity of participants, these findings should be interpreted with caution. Further studies involving male adolescents and more diverse samples are warranted to confirm the generalizability of the results. IRCT20130422013092N11 registered date: Sep 12, 2022.